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MMA Crossfire – The ultimate challenge for Anderson Silva is knowing when to get out

LAS VEGAS, NV - JULY 5: Anderson Silva works out for the fans and media during the UFC 148 Open Workouts inside XS nightclub at the Encore on July 5, 2012 in Las Vegas, NevadaPhoto: Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

At UFC 148, we saw Anderson Silva once again rise up to the challenge of Chael Sonnen and record his 10th consecutive UFC middleweight title defence.

UFC president Dana White hailed him afterwards as the greatest MMA fighter of all-time and right now, it’s hard to disagree with him.

At July 11th’s UFC on FUEL event, Mark Munoz and “The All-American” Chris Weidman will battle it out to be the next title contender. But Anderson’s ultimate challenge is to protect his legacy by knowing when to get out.

MMA Crossfire – The hard-hitting blog that features expert commentary.

It seems like only yesterday when Anderson Silva burst upon the UFC scene. making short work of The Crippler Chris Leben.

Now, at 37-years-old he is still at the height of his powers. Let’s take a quick look at how some other athletes handled Father Time knocking on their doorstep:

Muhammad Ali

Image courtesy Muhammad and Larry, Albert Maysles.

We start with Silva’s idol and perhaps the greatest boxing heavyweight of all-time. Like many boxers (Sugar Ray Leonard, Roy Jones Jr., Evander Holyfield, Mike Tyson) Ali cheated retirement for so long, it was apparent he would wear out his invincibility. . After his feel-good win against Leon Spinks in 1977, “Butterfly” continued to fight on, taking on former sparring idol, Larry Holmes in 1980 in a fight that’s still hard to watch. Holmes reduced Ali to a punching bag and still, Ali returned in 1981 to fight Trevor Berbick in Jamaica. It’s clear Ali loved all the various aspects of boxing. Fortunately, his legacy remains rock-solid. But one can only wonder if he retired after Spinks, if his health would be better today.

Julius Erving

Doctor J is a good example of knowing when to fold the tent. Erving retired in 1987 after a 16-year career which saw 3 professional championships, 30,026 points, over 10,000 rebounds and 5000 assists. As the premier high-flyer of his generation, he continued to be a productive player going into his final campaign at 37-years-old. The writing was on the wall however, with players like Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins terrorizing the league. Doc helped prepare the Philadelphia 76ers for the emergence of Charles Barkley, who became Sir Charles. The NBA saluted him with a retirement sendoff that lasted the whole season. He could have played longer, this is why Erving is a great example of knowing when to go.

“The Last Emperor’s shocking knockout loss to Bigfoot Silva last February probably should have been it looking back, but hindsight is 20-20. At the time it was just his 3rd loss but it was reasonable to say Emelianenko deserved a chance to show it was just a fluke. But then he was TKOed by Dan Henderson and it was time to retire. Fedor went on to fight in three more relative lacklustre fights before recently calling it quits. What Fedor did is undeniable as the greatest heavyweight of his era but the stigma of not fighting in the UFC continues to hound his legacy.

Did the Wayner hang around too long? It’s a tough one. It you look strictly at his stats near the end, the answer is yes. A couple of years too long. But when you factor in the teams he was on (rebuilding teams), the answer is probably no. Gretzky set out to play 20 years almost from the get-go so once this was achieved, he got out and never returned.